Vladimie s



(No Model.) 7

V. S. BEKOFSKY.

GAR COUPLING, No. 858,641. Patented Mar. 1, 1887.

WITNESSES IN VENTOR 1 ATTORNEYS.

Maire STATES ATENT rricn.

VLADIMIR S. BEKOFSKY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

.CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 858,641, dated March 1, 1887.

Application filed July 12, 1880. Serial No. 207,785.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that LVLADIMIR S. BEKOFSKY, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented anew and Improved Automatic Oar-Coupler, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention will be hereinafter described and specifically set forth in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a sectional elevation of my new automatic car'coupler and front beam of the car-frame; Fig. 2, a plan of the draw-bar with a sectional View of a ring, front beam, one spring, and partly-broken lever, Fig. 3, a sectional view on the line as x of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 a front elevation of a draw-head and handlever with a sectional view of the guides of the springs.

This device consists of a malleable iron or soft-steel hook, A, the prong a of which is projected downward, while the shank b thereof is inserted into the hollow cylindrical drawbar A. The hook A is formed with a shoulder, 0, by means of which it is connected with the cylindrical bar A. The rear end of the shank b of the hook A is fixed on the round washer d, placed inside of the draw-bar A, which washer has the pin D projected upward, and a tail, E, of a certain weight projected downward. The pin and tail are passed through corresponding slots, (2 (1", cut in the draw-bar A.

The draw-bar A consists of two semi-cylindrical parts, connected together by means of flanges and bolts m m, and is connected with another bar, F, by means of a neck, F, and the bar F is connected to the frame of the car by a heavy pin passed through the hole f. The cross-slots d d for the pin and tail of the washer d are cut so large as to allow them to move therein to the angle equal to ninety degrees.

From the lower part of a draw-bar an arm, G, is projected downward and connected by means of a rod, N, with the hand-lever N, fixed on one side of the cars platform, where it can be operated by a brakeman, so that the draw-bar may be turned so much as the case (No m odcl may require. On the top of the draw-bar a sliding plate, H, is located, the sides of which slide in the guides h h, fixed 011 the draw-bar flanges m m. This plate H has an S-like slot, K, in which the pin D is inserted, and. the plate is connected by a rod, 9, with one end of a swinging lever, L, located on the top ot' the hook A. Thus, when the arm G is in a vertical position and the lever L is at right angles to the axis of the draw-bar, then the prong a is also vertical and'the pin D is in the middle of slot K in plate H.

On both sides of the draw-bar A, just behind the hook a, are formed two shoulders, 71, to which two vertical wings, L, are hinged in the plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the draw-bar, so they can swing from and toward the car. On the upper part of each wing a pin, i, is projected up, which comes into the slots i 2" of the lever L, pivoted on a hook, A.

In coupling two cars together, each being provided with my improved coupler, the cars being brought together, thehook A of the opposing car will press on one of the wings, which, being pressed back, will move back the lever L, which, by means of the rod 9, will compel the sliding plate H to move toward or from the end of the car, causing slot K, acting on pin D, to move washer d to one side or the other, thus compelling the prong a to turn up to an angle of fortyhve degrees, or thereabout, from its vertical position. As the hook of the othercar has the same construction and correspondingly opposite movement, therefore both of the hooks being so turned will catch one another and couple automatically, their posi tion when coupled representing a square angle, though both of the prongs a project downward and will be in an inclined position. This coupling would allow the cars to play in ver tical and in horizontal planes without any fear of casual uncoupling.

Uncoupling or separating the cars is accom plished by operating the-lever N, which, then, is to be reversed i. e., moved to the'otherside from dotted line y, Fig. 4, to dotted line y* and when uncoupled it is required that the lever N be brought in a vertical position, so the car will be ready for the next coupling. \Vhen the cars are coupled automatically, then, for

\ spiral springs, P P, are located.

securing the coupling, the draw-bar A is to be turned in the same direction with the prong a. During this operation the pressure rendered will act on the pin D, which at that time is on the extreme end of the slot K of the sliding plate H; but as the hooks are alreadyin proper position, and cannot be turned farther on, therefore the pin will resist this pressure, and will compel the sliding plate H to move back until it reaches the central longitudinal portion, 7c, of the slot K. Then the prong, arm, and handlever will be in the same plane.

In uncoupling, the resistance of the pin D, owing to the friction between the prongs a, will be almost the same, as j uststated; but as it must for this purpose meet a point in the sliding plate without being moved through the whole diagonal slot K, therefore in the corners of the slot- K and in thelongitudinal portion 70 there is a small seat, 70', in which the pin D would come in reversing the movement of the hollow draw-bar A, thus compelling the hook A to follow the movement of the drawbar, which, being turned for ninety degrees, will effect an uncoupling, manipulated only from one car.

During the uncoupling operation the arm G of the hollow draw-bar and the hooked bar A will not be exactly in the same plane, owing to loose movement of the pin in the slot K of the sliding plate H. Therefore, to effect the uncoupling, the hollow draw-bar A must be moved a little more than for ninety degrees, and when the arm G is brought in a vertical position the prong a will be in a plane a little inclined to it. To bring the hook in a vertical position, and thus to make it ready for the next coupling, the tail E is fixed to the washer d, which, owing to its weight, will compel the hooks A to turn and to come in the vertical plane automatically.

In case a car having this coupler is to be coupled with another one of the usual constructioni. e.,by link-the latter must be put on the prong from the under side, and may be kept on its place by means of a pin inserted into small hole 0 in the prong a. The drawbar A, consisting of two parts, could hang a little down, and the flat iron bar P should be fixed under the joint, to avoid undesirable friction and weakness. The flat iron bar P is to be fixed under the joint between the draw-bar A and the bar F, being itself fastened to the car-frame.

As a draw-bar must be in the center line of a car, therefore a metal ring, Q, is fixed over and around the draw-bar. This ring has a suitable recess for giving room enough for the rod 9, connecting the lever L with a sliding plate, H. On both sides of the ring two The springs have the head-cups p p, with two projecting pins, 10 p", on each, which slide in the guide slots 19 formed in the guide-plates P fixed horizontally or vertically to the car-frame.

and its generally-used buffer-spring, so the breaking of the coupler will be avoided.

The connection of the sliding plate H and swinging lever L with the rod gis a universal onei. e., ball-joints must be made there, so there will be no binding of the parts.

The shoulders of' the hook a on their top parts have recesses and such bevels b as to allow the wings to swing only to a certain degree, after which, notwithstanding the pressure of the other hook, they will bear against the said bevel; then the pressure will act on the whole system of the draw-bar. The

tail B will also give a momentum to the prong a while coupling, thus facilitating the opera tion bybringing theprong in proper position i. 6., to turn it to forty-five degrees on the required side.

Having thus described any invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is

1. Acar-coupler comprising a hooked drawhead, a hollow draw-bar in which the hooked draw-head is loosely held, a sliding plate provided with a cam-slot ar ranged to act upon the hooked draw-head, and plates or device hinged to the outer end of the hooked drawhead and connected to the sliding plate, sub stantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a car-coupler, the sliding plate H, having a diagonal slot formed in it, in combination with the hollow draw-bar A and hooked draw-head A, the plate being connected to the hooked draw-head, substantially as described.

3'. The hooked draw-head A, having the lever L pivoted to it, and the plates L, hinged to the draw-head and connected to the lever, in combination with the sliding plate H and rod 9, connecting the plate H to the lever L, substantially as described.

4.. The combination, with the draw-bar, of the ring Q, surroundingthe draw-bar and heldin central position by the side springs, P P, substantially as described.

VLADIMIR S. BEKOFSKY.

WVitnesses:

H. A. WEsT, O. SEDGWIOK. 

